


Toph, Zuko, That Is Not How Families Work

by Honey_Butterscotch



Series: A series of unrelated avatar events [8]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Ableism is shitty, And he naps alot, Bad Parenting, Bc he needs to grow, Because ozai is a piece of shit, Dont bash katara ill eat you, Except around teo and aang bc they are both babies, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hakoda (Avatar) is a Good Parent, He is big cutie, I do like side characters does it show, I like roasting her parents, I want to adopt a lot of characters, I will eat your elbows if you ship them, Im an every character except the shitty characters stan, Let Toph Say Fuck, Light Angst, Listen i want to adopt teo, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Parental Hakoda (Avatar), Swearing, The Duke also says fuck alot, The fuck is a timeline, The gaang doesnt know how to handle them, They were shitty, Timeline What Timeline, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Toph and zukos fucked of sense of family, Toph's emotionally neglectful parents, Yes im a katara stan, Yes im a toph stan, Your death will be on sight bitch, Zuko and Toph being siblings, Zuko is a dork, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, mentions of child abuse, switching POV, toph is awesome, yes it does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26019307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honey_Butterscotch/pseuds/Honey_Butterscotch
Summary: Toph and Zuko aren't sure how parents actually work. They sure as fuck aren't sure how families work. This is slightly concerning.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Appa & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Momo & Zuko (Avatar), Ozai/Being A Cock Womble, Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Duke & Haru & Teo & Zuko, Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: A series of unrelated avatar events [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879483
Comments: 283
Kudos: 1613
Collections: avatar tingz, escapism (to forget that the world is a burning hellscape)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Bruh yall think these two know how family units function? The fuck they do. Her parents were emotionally absent and neglectful of her and didnt respect her autonomy, his dad was well ya know abusive as fuck and manipulative. So like, they dont really know how these family thingies work

Toph's parents were there, physically. It was obvious, with the way they hovered mere inches away from her and always found ways to hold her shoulder or touch her hair. But it wasn't ever truly affectionate, and they were rich. More than rich enough to afford perfumes and lotions and oils that choked her when they got near, the scents so heavy they made her nose and stomach ache. And the way they would touch her with hands too smooth and voices too soft and fabricated made her feel lonely. The touches, so many of them, too many of them, were restrictive and devoid of any emotion besides pity. That's what she was to them: a broken doll that they kept out of pity. Her parents, those people made of silk and wore perfume clouds that smell of lies, disgusted her. Parents sucked ass.

A lot of the others didn't share the same feelings as her, apparently. She expected it of Katara and Sokka, with the way they were with their dad. It was _weird,_ with the way their dad was just so _there._ It made no fucking sense, it was almost annoying. Haru, Teo, even Aang apparently didn't think that parents sucked. The Duke apparently had no parents and decidedly couldn't make a sure idea on them(he was eight, so he got a pass). At least Zuko (now a nice little addition to their group) would probably have the same sentiments as her. That night, when they were all situated around the fire, she heard something clatter on the floor.

"Teo?"

"Yeah, Haru?"

"Wanna tell me why you have a finger in your bag?"

"He has a fucking _what_ in his bag?"

"Toph!"

"What? The Duke has heard fuck before, it doesn't matter!"

"It makes Aang and Teo uncomfortable."

"It's ok, Katara. This was my dad's spare finger that he left with me before the invasion. I forgot I still had it!"

Could people attach and reattach actual fingers? That sounded so damn awesome. Was it an actual finger, though? When she asked, Teo laughed.

"Nope! He had lost his fingers making a finger-safe kinfe sharpener! I already lost my legs, so I don't want loose my fingers. Well, my legs are still there, I just can't use them."

"Did he pity you?"

"Huh?"

"Did your disability make him want to pity you and protect you from everything in the world world?"

"Uh, no? He made things easier for me, sure, but he didn't freak out everytime I breathed or something. I asked him to make the knife sharpener for me as a joke, actually. He just ended up with his fingers getting chopped off. I'm his kid, he knows I'm capable."

The fuck? Does that actually happen?

"That's weird. My parents liked to call me helpless and weak."

"Why?"

"I was their pity object. Ya know, like a doll for some weird, worthless collection."

"Oh yeah, I get that."

Surprisingly, it was Zuko who spoke up. He was situated right next to Toph. He was warm and vocally quiet, even if his heart was constantly racing like he was being chased. Still, he was a comfortable presence and she didn't necessarily mind him being right by her.

"Do you, Sparky?"

"Well, yeah. My dad would like to tell me I was lucky to be born and that he should have thrown me out the window like he was planning to when I was born."

His tone was casual and light, but that sentence was a tiny bit twisted. Despite that, she felt a sort of kinship bloom and she punched his shoulder with a grin.

"Hey, I think that counts as at least emotionally absent! We should start a club!"

"Ow! Uh, sure, the 'Parents Suck' club?"

"Perfect. Parents do suck, I'm glad I ran away."

"Well, my mom was pretty great and uncle is awesome, but generally I think parents are just not good?"

"Pretty much? Fuck if I know."

"Tui and La, that is not ok? Are you guys ok? Families don't work like that normally?"

"Well, that's all I knew Snoozles. Parents, from my experience, are something you could very much live without as long as you can take care of yourself!"

Toph grinned wider. Zuko's heart had slowed when they began talking about how shitty parents are. Sokka's, Katara's, Haru's, and Teo's, however, had picked up in what could have been slight stress. The Duke was snoring away, splayed over Teo's legs, asleep before this whole shebang went down. "Uh, well, I am going to take The Duke to his sleeping bag. Haru, mind getting him? I can't get in my chair if I don't want to wake him up." She heard the wheelchair creak. "Night, Wheels!" She waved cheerfully and most likely not directly at him. "Hey, Sparky, piggyback me." She palmed his shoulders and he picked her up with his arm sliding under her legs. He smelled like smoke and spices and somewhat like the fire honey cakes she had pinched from a cart in the Fire Nation town she liked to gamble in. "You're pretty cool, for a fire bender." She leaned her head down. His warmth made her sleepy. He began humming lowly and swaying with his steps. "The fuck are trying to do, Sunshine? Put me to sleep?" He didn't answer, and her eyes slid closed anyways. She dreamed of a hug that felt like a blanket and smelled like spices and subtle sweetness and was full of something that she couldn't quite name. It wasn't pity, though, and it was the best dream she had ever had. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we could have had a little more Teo and Haru and The Duke. And Zuko&Toph as siblings. Just an opinion ya know.

Zuko, as a child, had taught himself to be as quiet in the halls as he possibly could. It seemed strange, for all the shouting and stomping he did, but when he wasn't trying to be loud he was quiet. Especially after his mom was gone, he learned to be a shadow in the corners of the palace. He lurked the places even the hidden servants couldn't see him, couldn't hear him or touch him. Zuko, when not truly trying, was quiet. Like a whisper of a person. It was weird, being with such loud people. He normally didn't like loud, loud being screaming and swearing, loud being the sound of explosions and people in pain. This loud was _different,_ loud in the way that people were when they were happy or excited, like fireworks at a festival. Like children playing together. It made him feel nervous. This good loud could be bad loud at any time. Bad loud never became good loud, bad loud was predictable. Bad loud was normal. This good loud would end.

"Haru, I am going to run over your toes."

"Nope. You're going to not just run over my toes, your going to run over my fucking toes."

"I'm not saying it. I will not swear. If I start, I won't stop, and then all the kids at home will start swearing if they hear me. I'm _not_ getting the temple moms mad at me, they'll take away my gliding privileges for a month."

"Ok then. Say goodbye to your ribs."

"HARU-ACK!"

Zuko perched himself on a small ledge above the courtyard, comfortably balanced in the thin stone. Teo was choking on laughs being forced out of him as Haru poked at his ribcage incessantly, jumping up on raised stones to keep his feet from being run over. "I thought there were a bunch of kids in your village! Why would you swear so much around them?" Haru jumped out of Teo's way, then aimed his fingers at Teo's sides from behind his wheelchair. "They swore way more than me! The evil little spirits would cuss out the Fire Nation soldiers when we chased them out. I learned more from them than they did from me! Ow, shit!" Haru rubbed his foot as he stubbed it on a stone that hadn't been there before. The stone dove back into its previously smooth form. Toph leaned against a pillar with a wide grin, The Duke sat at her feet. "Hey, Zuko, can I go up there with you?" The Duke had his arms stretched out and Zuko jumped off his ledge. Haru, momentarily distracted, yelped when Teo squished the tops of his toes with his front wheel. "Teo, you asshole."

"Jerk-stache."

"Baby."

"I am literally two years younger than you." 

Zuko picked The Duke up and hopped back on the perch. "Hey, you're pretty quiet. How do you do that?" The Duke had a big grin and his helmet was sliding over his face. "Uh, well, when I was younger I had to be really quiet so I didn't bug people."

"My parents wanted me to be quiet."

Toph had raised herself up to where Zuko was situated with The Duke. She made a face and snorted. "They liked when I sat there and didn't do shit. My mom wanted to bind my feet up so I couldn't walk. If you didn't notice, I walk pretty damn loud." Her heels hit the stone when she swung her feet and the ground rumbled a bit with every nudge of her feet. "My father would get pissy when I was too loud and would smack me around a bit. So I just prefered to be as quiet as possible." Toph brought a little pebble to her and flicked it, then pulled it back into her palm. Her palms were rough, callused, and a little dusty. They were strong. He scooched closer and tapped her open palm almost like he did with Azula when they were little. The last time he tried that, Azula (only eight and already twisted up beyond the little baby he would rock to sleep) singed his finger tip. Toph, instead of doing the earthbending equivalent (smashing his finger with the pebble, maybe) tapped her finger mindlessly against his palm. "I like being loud. You ever heard a rock slide?" He drummed his fingers against her knuckles and hummed a little yes. "Those are fucking ear shattering. They're also pure, raw power. So when I get loud, I like to think I'm like a human rock slide." She thumped her finger against his wrist bone. "Loud gets tiring, though."

"Not if you're committed to it. Anyways, my spite gives me energy."

"Spiting your parents?"

"Who else? If they disapprove of me being loud then of course I'm gonna be loud. Loud enough to break their eardrums."

The Duke wiggled to the edge of the perch. Zuko almost jumped down, but Toph sent him down on her own. The Duke joined in on Haru and Teo, alternating between yelling with Haru and screeching along with Teo. Toph scooted closer and he thought of the last time his mother or sister sat by him like this. Toph was a solid weight against his side and they kept the tapping on their hands a back-and-forth activity. "Loud was always my father yelling at me."

"Shitstick."

"Kinda. Loud has always been kinda bad."

"Nah. Loud for me was those people in the Earth Rumble Six arena cheering for me."

"Loud can be good?"

"Yeah! I'm loud aren't I?"

"...Yeah. You are loud."

Haru, Teo, and The Duke were loud. Toph was loud. That was good. Loud, maybe, could be good without turning bad. Maybe. 

"Ya know, uh, being told to be quiet all the time isn't really normal?"

"Or sneaking around in your own home?"

"Uh..."

"Well, I guess that's another bad childhood strike!"

"Parents Suck Club?"

"Parents fucking Suck Club!"

"Please stop celebrating that."

"I will when you loose that ugly ass mustache."

"You can't even see it!"

Toph's laugh was tumbling and echoing. Zuko tapped his fingers on her elbow this time. She squeezed back, her hold quiet even when she was loud.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So none of my friends know I write fics on ao3 or even know that I'm on ao3 or even know that ao3 exists for the most part. And I just told one of my friends and now shes enabling me. Its wonderful.

She couldn't see the way people carried themselves or the looks in people's eyes. But she could feel their posture in their footsteps and if their hearts were pounding in distress or keeping a steady, confident beat. The way people walked was carried through their gait and Toph could already tell so much about the people surrounding her. Nobles, for the most part, walked like liars. They moved like ooze from an infected wound with something arrogant in the jaunt of their feet that drove Toph fucking nuts. Their heartbeats had the slightest flutter, a hidden nervousness under their sleek silks and heavy jewels. Princess Azula moved like that, but something else was there as well, something powerful and dangerous and even her heart missed that quick skipping of nervousness when she lied. She was unnerving, and Toph was glad that she couldn't look at that face. If she could, she would probably always believe that face, which must be as much of a mask as her voice. Zuko, on the other hand, was a fucking _awful_ liar. "Sparky, lie to me."

"Um, my eyes are blue?"

"Are you even trying, Sunshine? I don't even what blue is and I can tell this isn't it."

"Ok, hold on. Fuck. I don't have a scar."

"Yep, you're shitty at this."

"Ok."

He shifted beside her and she heard the paper of a scroll crinkle. Zuko walked like he was ready to jump either into danger or out of it, lightly and quickly. His heart around Katara, Aang, and Sokka was a consistently nervous, but honest flutter but it had recently settled into something calmer around her, Haru, The Duke and Teo. She might be little smug about that. Nobody had to know. "What do you have?" She reached out, trying to feel for the paper. He grabbed her hand and placed it on the scroll, surprised to find raised bumps that formed patterns. "It's a play scroll, one of my favourites, but the writing is in raised ink bumps. If you know what the letters mean, you can read the bumps with your fingers." Toph began running her hands over the paper. "I...don't know any letters. Blind shit, ya know?" She heard Zuko pull out another scroll, replacing the one he had with the new one. "I lost the majority of the vision in my left eye when I was 13. It made it hard to read things. My uncle has a pai sho friend who teaches people how to read the bumps and I practice with these scrolls often." She could hear him swallow. "Want to learn how to read, Toph?"

"Fuck. Yeah, I'd love to learn to read."

"Let's get started. This is 'üa'.."

His heartbeat was gentle. So was his voice. Toph's face hurt from her when she could read every letter and she hoped Zuko was smiling just as wide as her. She wondered in the back of her mind if her parents knew about the raise ink letters. She shut down the conniving whisper that they had and they wanted to keep her from being capable to read so she would always have to rely on them or someone else. The bubble of pride when she could string together her friends' names swallowed up thoss bitter thoughts. 

Zuko was gone the next morning, and he left her the letter scroll. It was still warm and smelled like spiced candy and smoke. She kept it tucked in her shirt where nobody could see it and pulled it out at night so she could practice. Zuko came back a couple days later and he was nervous again. He began shoving himself between Hakoda and all the others during mealtimes, like he was a barrier. She was a little concerned, because Chief Hakoda had the walk her father had always tried to emulate but never could. Chief Hakoda had the footsteps of a man in authority and who had power, be it political or physical, or both. His walk shouted out his strength even though his voice had a kind reverberation. He was most likely the cause of Zuko's flighty behaviour. Zuko's heart didn't stop pounding against his ribs until Toph pulled him aside one night and told him to teach her to write sentences in raised ink letters. He calmed down with each basic sentence he wrote and had her copy. 

"Why are you scared?"

"Ummm..."

"You literally cannot lie to me, Sunshine."

She wrote his name on the practice scroll they were using and then set down her inkwell. Toph squeezed his hand, the ink smearing over their fingers. He let her.

"Sokka and Katara's dad. He, well, he scares the absolute fuck out of me, quite frankly."

"Oh. Well, that's ok."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. It's ok because now I can tell you that if he harasses you or anything, just tell me. I can hang him off the side of the temple for you."

"Can you?"

"Of fucking course. What's he gonna do, squish me?"

Zuko snorted, probably with a roll of his eyes, and his heart had settled with a sort of finality. At lunch, he still put himself between her and Hakoda, but it was more like he arranged it so if Toph wanted to, she could pop out and throw down. Toph had begun absentmindedly arranging assorted pebbles into letters, forming words on the ground. She barely noticed, but it seems Katara did.

"Toph! You're spelling my name!"

"Oh, am I?"

Yeah! Where did you learn to write?"

"Oh, Sparky here has been teaching me how to read and write. He has these scrolls with raised ink bumps and they make letters and words. The nerd even has a play scroll!"

"Consider your play scroll privileges revoked."

"Liar!"

"Prince Zuko, where did you learn to read raised letters?"

"I,um, my vision. In my left eye. It went bad after I got the scar, Chief Hakoda. My uncle, one of his friends taught me to read scrolls made for people who could not see as well as an average person, or who couldn't see at all, sir."

"When did you get that? It looks older than one year."

"Um, close to three years ago? I was thirteen, sir."

Toph squeezed Zuko's hand. He breathed in time with her. It was subtle, hopefully. 

"You're sixteen now, then."

Hakoda's voice was angry, but it was nothing compared to the man's heart. It was the sound of calmed, quick fury. 

"Yes."

"Who would give a kid a scar like that?"

"Um, my father."

She heard Sokka choke on something and wheeze. Hakoda's heart paused for a quick second and then began pounding like an angry mother savor tooth moose lion's. His voice sounded like a thunderstorm. 

"Oh, did he now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Man, sunshine, that's a bit too fucked up!"

"Oh, is there a fucked up limit?"

"Yep!"

"Then your parents passed it when you mentioned they wanted to rearrange the bones in your feet so you couldn't walk anymore."

"Should we officially discuss a fucked up limit? Like, your father letting Azula throw a knife at you doesn't pass it but him breaking your wrist does?"

"Maybe?"

"Sweet spirits, what the fuck you two?"

"Shhhh, Sokka! The first Parents Suck meeting has started. And now that I can read and write basic sentences, we can put the rules for the club on paper!"

"Dad, your face is red!"

"I'm fine, Katara. Avatar Aang, should you spare Ozai's life, would you allow me to end it?"

"...I will think about it."

"Good enough for me."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys we could have had so much fun with aang being the reincarnation of zukos great grandfather we were robbed. 
> 
> Zuko is the epitome of "all my systems are nervous".

"Hey, Sunshine, are all your relatives cockstains or is it just your father?"

"My great grandfather was pretty cool."

"Wasn't he, like, a genocidal maniac that spawned your grandfather?"

"I meant on my mom's side. Funnily enough, he was Avatar Roku."

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Nope. Don't tell Aang, or he'll be insufferable."

"I won't."

It's too bad he doesn't have a built in lie detector like Toph does, or Zuko would have had at least an hour to mentally prepare himself. He doesn't know when that little goblin got to tell Aang, but it was before afternoon practice. Aang had a fat, mischievous grin on his face while he was doing his hot squats, and honestly? It made Zuko's nervous alarms go from a persistent, quiet ringing to an erratic shriek and that was never good. "So..." Aang's grin grew impossibly wider. "So, what? So now you're going to start on your basic katas?" Aang shook his head. "I can't believe you youngsters these days! I am your great grandfather!" Zuko sighed and resigned himself to his fate almost immediately. Sometimes, you just had to give up without a fight and just roll with this kind of bullshit. "I blame Toph." Aang nodded sagely and was assigned twenty more squats.

"Zuko, sword bend with me."

"The fuck's sword bending?"

"We're the only two with swords here! And this is the only way I can bend."

"I guess."

"Come on, I finally get a chance to knock you on your ass!"

Zuko liked swordfighting. It was cathartic in a way that firebending couldn't be, mostly because he didn't have the off chance of setting something he wasn't supposed to on fire. He still felt bad for those cabbages. That was an awful accident. The sword Sokka had reminded Zuko of an old play his mom had taken him to see, it was the second play he had ever watched. Zuko (he knew he was a nerd, ok?) hoped he could compare the sword from the play to this sword later if Sokka let him. "Be warned, I trained with Master Piandao for a while."

"Oh? So did I, when I was six."

Sokka was very good with a sword, but Zuko had the advantage of training for six years and regular practice post-banishment. It was one of the few things he would willingly admit he was very good at. Toph and Aang were on the sidelines with Katara, Teo, and The Duke. Haru joined them while Toph and Aang were making...posters? "Go, Sparky!" Toph was holding a poster of Zuko (upside down but that was fine) and waving it around. Aang also had a poster of him. Zuko tripped Sokka and he went down face first. "Wait, Zuko."

"Yeah?"

"Are you the one whose calligraphy was hanging on his walls?"

"Maybe? I haven't done calligraphy for Master Piandao since I was twelve."

"Do you know how many times he held up mine to compare against yours'? I'm going to fucking stab you, he gave me so much shit over that."

"Hey, don't talk about my great grandson like that!"

"AANG!"

Zuko sat on the ground and just put his face in his hands. He could feel The Duke patting his back consolably. "Wait, time out. Aang, what do you mean your great grandson?"

"Avatar Roku was my mom's grandfather. So, he was my great grandfather."

"That makes me his great grandfather!"

"No, it _doesn't,_ Aang!"

"I will send you to your room, mister!"

The Duke had come up in front of Zuko and hugged his head. Katara was laughing so hard, Zuko was pretty sure she was crying. Teo's eyebrows were raised fairly high and was absentmindedly slapping at Haru's hands that kept trying to poke his sides.

"Well, fine. Just don't try and order my father to sacrifice me like my grandfather did."

It's so weird, everytime Zuko brings up his family's tendencies, everyone goes quiet. "What?" 

"Sunshine, I would totally kick your grandfather's ass."

"And I would kick your grandfather's ass as well."

"I mean, I wouldn't say no..."

"He deserves it, he wanted to have your parents marry you to his friend's son. The guy was like twenty years older than you."

"Oh yeah, that did happen!"

Zuko watched Sokka lay down face first on the floor and flinched when he suddenly shrieked. "Snoozles, stop being weird."

"You two need _so much_ help."

"You were raised in an acceptably normal household, your opinion is invalid Sir Boomerang."

The Duke had settled on to Zuko's shoulders and was still patting his head comfortingly. "Hey, Zuko, can I take a look at the balloon? I want to check if the Fire Nation made any changes to the original design! Then I cam make notes for my dad!"

"Have fun."

"Thank you- Haru, I swear, if you do not stop, I am going to rip those moldy strings off your face."

"You said that my mustache was very nice yesterday!"

"I lied!"

Zuko pulled a scroll from his shirt and passed it over to Toph. "Hey, we're going to start another Parents Suck meeting right now."

"Why right now?"

"Shut it, Twinkle Toes. Parents Suck meetings will take place anywhere, anytime."

"Shouldn't you two get therapy?"

"This is good."

"It's fine really."

"As your great grandfather, I demand that you get therapy."

"Jokes on you, I don't respect most authority figures."

"Aren't you supposed to be an authority figure."

"Who says I respect myself?"

Sokka shrieked into the ground again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All abuse victims, whether they are able to talk about their trauma, unable to talk about it, or didn't even know that they were being abused, are valid.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So some of my shit got deleted and I cant get it back so that's fucked up.

Toph was going to murder Zuko. She hadn't felt his body heat beside her when they were fleeing Azula, had only heard shouting and then something whistling through the air. It sounded like a body. Then he _was_ beside her, breathing hard and his hands shaking in her's. "Sparky, did you almost just die?" He didn't answer her back, not verbally, but she already knew. She didn't need anybody to tell her, she just _knew._ "You asshole! You almost let that psycho kill you!" She didn't pull her hand away from his. Toph was going to squeeze his limbs hard enough that their hands melted together, so she could always feel the roughness of his palms and ridged fingertips and the pulse in his wrist that told her he was _alive._ The stupid fucker thought that he could leave her alone. 

They didn't talk once they landed and she could see everyone. She could count every heartbeat that was there and assure herself that they were alive. She hadn't let go of his hand at all. She didn't want to be alone. Her parents left her alone, always at her side but not there. Her friends were there but they couldn't keep the sense of alone away like Zuko. They didn't really get it, not in the way she wanted them to. If he died, he would have left Toph _alone._ "I'm angry at you, Sunshine." She told him this as she picked up his blanket and pulled it around her, folding herself in smoke and spiced honey and softness. "I'm sorry." He let her lean against him and he ran one hand over her head. His hands were warm and, more importantly, _there._ "You would have left me alone."

"You would still have the others."

"Aang still needs a teacher. And they don't get it, they can't get it."

"Aang just needs some more practice, honestly. What don't the others get?"

"They can't get me. They can't understand how lonely I felt. How lonely i still feel."

Her eyes were doing that annoying watery thing. She hated when they did that.

"Lonely?"

"I always had people with me. But they weren't there for me. They didn't..."

_They didn't love me._

"I'm sorry."

"You can't go. You..."

_You love me. Right?_

"I won't."

"If you're there for me, then I'm there for you. You were lonely, right?"

_They didn't love you, did they?_

"Uncle helped. My mom did. But...I felt so lonely."

_How come they didn't love me?_

"I'm here."

She was tucked under his chin, and she could smell the annoying salty eye water on his face. It was on her cheeks as well. The blanket soaked up their tears. "Is this a Parents Suck meeting?" She was joking but he hugged her closer. "No. It's a 'We Suck Less Than Our Parents' meeting. I think."

"Oh. I like that."

"I do too."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lots of little moments that add up to soft siblings being soft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to make a crackfic where momo shaves off Haru's mustache and everytime I think of it, I smile.

"I'm sorry. About hurting you. It was an accident, I swear, but you can break my fingers or something to get even with me."

"It was my fault too, dummy. I can't break your fingers without feeling like an asshole, anyways."

"Oh."

"Just carry me around and massage my feet and you can call it even."

Those were the first few days, the days where Toph poked her head over Zuko's shoulder with a superior grin. She got to be the tallest and the warmest and the closest to Zuko. Those were the first few days where she learned the he didn't shout as much as everyone had led her to believe, he was careful with mostly everything he did, his heart best too fast. The days he learned that she wasn't all brute strength and big talk (not really big talk when she could more than back up her pride), she liked to swing her feet when she was off the ground, that she was a lot like Azula when Azula didn't truly know cruelty (Azula could have been like this rough and tumble tough girl that knew what she wanted and how she was going to get it).

* * *

"I...highway robbed a bunch of nobles."

"No way!"

"I'm not really proud of it. But I don't exactly feel bad for doing it."

"Nobles are assholes! Besides, Sokka and I scammed an entire town to make some quick cash."

"That's _impressive,_ wow."

"Damn right it is! What did Uncle think about your whole 'give me your money or I'll shank you with my sickass swords' thing?"

"I had seperated myself from him. I never told him about what I did."

"I met him when he was looking for ya. He loves you."

"Not anymore. I betrayed him, and he can't love me anymore."

"Uncle will be proud of you, idiot. And you're pretty easy to love."

"No, I'm not- ow! Toph, what the fuck? Why'd you punch me?"

"Seeing if I can knock some of the stupid out of you. Trust me, Sunshine."

"Mm, fine. Only because you will kick me off the temple if I try and disagree."

Those were the middle days, when he started sitting by her at the campfire. When he let his heart steady around her in the beginning blooms of trust and he was getting used to her. The days when she began poking at him with a gentleness that he could pick out from behind her toughness because he knew what true aggression was like. When she would nudge his leg with her ankle if she felt his heart ramping up in panic and she was there to steady him. She was easy to be around, with no maliciousness hidden in her and he was honest enough that she didn't ever need to check his heart for lies and so refreshing from a world of liars and cheaters that was the courts she grew up in.

* * *

"Their dad makes me frustrated, and scared."

"I got mad at Teo because the way his dad is so... _different_ from mine, and he acts like how his dad treats him was normal."

"Their dad is so _nice_ and calm, why doesn't he hit them? They argue back and they get in each other's faces and he doesn't even yell at them? He makes them talk it out? Why is he like that?"

"His dad just lets him do things he's interested in? He helps him without hovering somehow and Teo gets so much freedom. Why did my parents treat me the way they did?"

"I'm angry."

"I'm angry too."

"I'm confused and frustrated and _sad."_

"I feel like I was wronged and I'm bitter and upset."

Those were the days they talked and wrote and read. Where they cried and he would pull at his hair and she would hit walls in the middle of the night as quiet as they could. Where he sobbed out his rage and confusion and she bled the poison of her contempt and vitriol. When at the end of it all they would curl up small in the corner and whisper the lines of a half-remembered story they had made up. Where they just felt like they had ripped open barely healed over wounds that had risen up with infection and hurt. The pain was starting to lessen to a dull throb and the skin could finally begin to mend.

* * *

After that came the the disappearance of an emptiness neither had really known was there. A big invisible hole that suddenly filled up with her solid, earthen presence and his warm, smoking hugs. It filled up with raised ink scrolls that let Toph read and comforting punches that didn't leave a bruise but just a little red-pink indent of a pale fist on an equally pale arm. 

"Ya think Uncle would let me live with him after this?"

"Absolutely. I can't see why he wouldn't want you to live with him."

"He'd have to adopt me as his niece."

"That would be fine."

"You know what that means."

"I do."

"You're ok with that?"

"Perfectly, beyond a doubt ok."

"Oh."

Her voice was smaller than it had ever been when ye told her that with no hesitation. She didn't check his heartbeat for a lie.

* * *

"I thought I fucking told you I can't lose you!"

"I know!"

"You got shot full of lightning!"

"I'm sorry!"

" _Please don't leave me alone."_

_"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I won't ever leave you. Dont leave me alone either."_

_"How could I?"_

_"How could **I**?"_

* * *

"We're ok now, huh?"

"Yeah, I think we are."

"I love you."

"I love you."

**Author's Note:**

> Toph: lmao my parents didnt care about me as a person I was just a thing for them
> 
> Zuko: lol yeah my dad told me I was worthless all the time I get it
> 
> The gaang: BRUH WHAT THE FUCK
> 
> I swear to fucking god if anybody dares comment with a toph/zuko shipping comment I'm going to haunt your house and stick pincherbugs in your fucking nostrils dont be goddamn nasty


End file.
